On August 15 during the festive Eucharist celebrated on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Immaculate Mother of Christ the Lord, two novices made their first religious vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience on the hands of the Superior of the Vietnamese Vicariate, Fr. Bogusław Gil, MIC, who presided over the ceremony.
The two newly professed are 23-year-old John the Baptist Nguyen Van Tuan and 28-year-old Joseph Nguyen Nhu Thuan. Both have already spent almost five years in our formation community as candidates, postulants, and novices. During their candidacy and postulancy, they also completed a two-year course of philosophical studies. In September, they will begin their first year of theology at one of the theological institutes in Saigon. During the ceremony of their first religious profession, they also received the white habit of our Congregation, as members of our Congregation belonging to the Vietnamese Vicariate can receive the white habit from the moment they take their first vows.
During the same Eucharist, four seminarians also renewed their temporary profession. They are third-year theology students and have already received the ministry of lector. For the first time, two Vietnamese perpetual professed members witnessed the first profession and renewal of vows by their younger confreres from their home country.
The vow ceremony was attended by the families of our newly professed brothers, who came from the distant diocese of Vinh in central Vietnam. They had to travel 1,400 km.
